Boat-propeller.



J. S. WHITAKER.

BOAT PROPELLER.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 20.4916.

Patented Jan. 15, 1918.

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JAMES s. WHITAKER, on em FRANCTSCO, oiinr nonlvrii, AssreNon 0F ONE-HALF ro H. 0. WILSON, OF SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA 'BoA'r-PRqPELnEn.

Specification of Leta. Patent. P t t J 5, 91

Application filed September 20, 1916. Serial No. 121,234.

' To all 'whom it mag concern: a z

Be it known thatI, JAMnsS; WHITAKER, a "citizen-of the United States residing at 4. San Francisco, in thecounty of .San Francisco and State'of California, have invented new and useful Improvements in Boat- Propellers, of which the following is a specification. I 1

This invention relates ,tomechanismxfor propelling small rivercraft, such .as row boats and the object of the invention is to arrange upon the side of a boat, hinged oar members operative from the interior of the boat disposed to feather or fold one against the other when the same are moved to a l forward position and to spread when moved to a rearward position, and thus propel the boat.

It is a further object of the invention to provide means for propelling a row boat wherein the oars, of a peculiar construction and of different sizes, may be easily and quickly attached, and whereby the said oars may be reciprocated in the arc of a circle by the occupants of the boat.

It is a still further object of the invention to provide a boat propelling means comprising oars arranged in pairs upon the opposite sides of the boat and to connect the same in such a manner that when the said oars are operated, one pair of oars will feather or swing toward each other in what may be termed a collapsing position, while the other pair of oars may be moved to an open position to fully contact with the water, and thus afford a continuous movement or travel of the boat as long as the oars are propelled.

With the above and other objects in View the improvement resides in the construction, combination and arrangement of parts set forth in the following specification and falling within the scope of the appended claim.

In the drawing:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a row boat provided with my improvement,

Fig. 2 is a sectional view approxlmately on the line w-w of Fig. 1,

Fig. 3 is a sectional view approximately on the line y-y of Fig. 2, and

Fig. 4 is a sectional view approximately on the line z-z of Fig. 2.

In the drawing, the numeral 1 designates ordinary small water icraft such i for :;instance, a row boats; 4: I

. The boat 1 at the sides.orgunwales thereof has :secured thereto longitudinally extending strips 2, arranged diametricallyoppos1te ,each. other, and each of these strips has pivotally connected therewith 351061 3,

one end'of. said rodbeing offset and received in a suitable depressiont in the said :strips 2.

livotally secured to the strips 2, adjacent the. oppositeends thereof, as at 5-5,.are

oar members. 6, thehandles of said oars being provided with a plurality of spaced openings 8 -whereby-the-said oars maybe ---adju sted with relation to the strips 2, and

whereby one end of the oars will be extended downwardly along the side of the boat and the opposite edge may be projected above the gunwales of the boat. The downwardly projecting portions of the oars, indicated for distinction by the numerals 9, have one of their faces and which for distinction I will indicate as the rear face of the said oars, longitudinally channeled, as indicated by the numeral 10, and the lower end of the oar at the channeled face thereof is provided with an outwardly extending lug 11 having a pair of upwardly projecting pintles 12. The inner wall of the channel may be provided with a plurality of threaded openings, any one of which is adapted to receive the threaded shank of a headed element 13 that passes through a block 14, and this block is provided with a pair of downwardly'extending pintles 15. Each of the oars is provided with two blades 1616, the said blades having their meeting edges formed with knuckles 17. The blades are attached to the oars by arranging the knuckles over the pintles 12, and thereafter permitting the pintles 15 to enter the upper ends of their knuckles, the blocks 14 being then secured through the medium of the elements 13 to the respective oars. The rear oar adjacent the lower end thereof has pivotally connected thereto a rod 18, the said rod being arranged at an inclination and being pivotally connected to the forward oars. This connection can be made by having the forward end of the rod offset and received in one of the plurality of openings in the handle of the said oar. The rear oars are connected by a bar 18, and if desired the front oars may be likewise'connected. The bar 18 is adapted to be grasped by the hand of the operator and to be reciprocated and it will thus be noted that both the forward and'rear oars will'be oscillated in unison but in a reverse direction, v whereby the blades 16 of one of the pairs of oars will becontacted with the water but swung together when the same are in connection with the accompanying drawing the, simplicity of the device as well as the advantages thereof will, it isthought,

vbe perfectly apparentto those skilled in the .art to which such invention appertains without further detaileddescription.

:wardly extending lug, a pair ofupwardly projecting pintles upon each of said lugs, a pair'of blades for each of the oars having knuckles receiving the pintles, a block member having a pair of downwardly extending pintles adjustably arranged one on each of a the oars and the pintles thereof designed to be received in the knuckles of the pair of "blELClGSIfOI each ofvthe arms, an angularly disposed rod member loosely connected with each pair of cars upon the opposite sides of the boat, a swinging guide member for the oars on each side of the boat, and a con 'necting member providing an operating lever for two of the oppositely disposed oars upon the opposite sides of the boat.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature. JAMES S. WHITAKER.

I Copies 01' this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. 03" p i 

